2017 Budget An Incremental Step For Nation To Achieve Digital Economy

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 10 (Bernama) -- The 2017 Budget, tabled by Prime Minister Najib Razak on Oct 21, is an incremental step in achieving Malaysia’s vision of a fully connected digital economy. In a statement Thursday, IDC Malaysia said, although the specific financial breakdown of the budget initiatives was not yet available, the direct and indirect impact on the Malaysian information and communications technology sector was apparent. It said according to IDC research, total information and technology spending, including infrastructure, software and services, was expected to grow by 3.3 per cent to US$21.16 billion (US$1=RM4.25) in 2017. "It will be interesting to see if the recent budget initiatives will help Malaysia achieve its vision of a digital economy given that key budget items are directly related to technology," it said. IDC predicted Digital Transformation would attain macroeconomic scale over the next three to four years, changing the way enterprises operate and reshaping the global economy, thus profoundly impacting regional market including Malaysia. IDC Malaysia Research Director, Pranabesh Nath, said this transformation was in its advanced stages in the region, such as Singapore and Japan, with clear benefits in increasing macroeconomic indicators. "Hence, many countries in the region are accelerating their own digital transformation programmes," he said. -- BERNAMA